Explanatory note

This Order amends the Motor Vehicles (Exchangeable Licences) Order (Northern Ireland 2022 (“the 2022 Order”) in order to designate Moldova under Article 19D(2)(b), (2A) and (2B) of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 (“the 1981 Order”) as making satisfactory provision for the granting of licences which authorise the driving of vehicles included in licensing category B (cars). This enables those driving licences to be exchanged for a corresponding Northern Ireland licence.

Moldova is designated in respect of those licences if the driving test was passed in Moldova or by way of exchange for a licence granted in the United Kingdom, an EEA State or any of the countries or territories specified in Table 1, Table 2 or Table 3 of Schedule 1 or in Schedule 2 to the 2022 Order where the driving test was passed in that country, territory or State.

A licence granted to a person who has passed a driving test in a vehicle with automatic transmission shall only be exchangeable to the extent that it authorises the driving of vehicles with automatic transmission.

The opportunity has also been taken to include Gibraltar in the list of countries in Schedule 2 as a country or territory from where a licence may have been exchanged. Licences issued in Gibraltar are included in the definition of exchangeable licence in Article 19D(1) of the 1981 Order and are exchangeable in their own right.

An Explanatory Memorandum has been produced and is available from Driving, Vehicle and Road Safety Policy Division, Department for Infrastructure, 3^rd Floor, James House, 2-4 Cromac Avenue, Belfast BT7 2JA or online alongside this Statutory Rule at http//www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr